Another VR project starring AAA talent shows how the immersive medium is continuing to attract more of Hollywood’s biggest names. To compliment the theatrical film release of Distorted on June 22nd, Minds Eye Entertainment and SkyVR have partnered to produce Distorted Reality, a scripted, live-action cinematic VR distributed through OneTouchVR on Google Daydream, Oculus Go,

At Unity’s Berlin event the company revealed the Mixed And Augmented Reality Studio (MARS) for creating more robust software that interacts with the real-world environment in a believable way.

Most augmented reality apps in 2018 (and earlier) have a limited understanding of the real world. This understanding is so limiting to software design — and user experience — that companies like Magic Leap and Microsoft use the term “Mixed Reality” to try and differentiate their efforts from earlier ones. Magic Leap, for example, uses a suite of sensors on its upcoming Magic Leap One headset to develop a detailed understanding of the environment around the player. This new set of tools from Unity is built for precisely that type of device.

MARS is slated to arrive this fall. Check out the MARS section about 41 minutes into this video:

Oculus is supporting the glTF 2.0 file format in its Home environment and allowing users to import 3D objects with the latest update.

With the 1.26 update rolling out today users get to import 3D objects and use virtual computer monitors, TVs and arcade cabinets to display traditional windows and applications from their computer. Later this month, the creativity app Medium will get support to export creations directly to this home environment. These customization features could go a long way to helping the Rift deliver a more personalized and comfortable experience. For instance, people could start using this functionality to import a 3D couch model that’s then placed in the same general position as their real-life couch.

Oculus today also revealed details surrounding CTO John Carmack’s “5K” method for increasing the fidelity of 360-degree video experiences, though it comes with a “key compromise” requiring creators “to accept lower resolution at the top and bottom of the sphere.”

Owlchemy Labs co-founder and former CEO Alex Schwartz is departing the company he started. The departure comes around a year after selling the company to Google.

Owlchemy Labs is the company behind Job Simulator, Rick & Morty and the upcoming Vacation Simulator. The new CEO, Devin Reimer, spent hundreds of hours as the head of technology at the company building core systems to produce seemingly simple features like a cup of coffee that behaved like the real world. That core work in simulating various aspects of reality while resizing elements to various play spaces and player heights, combined with the launch of chart-topping VR games, is likely the reason Google acquired the company.

Schwartz is departing the company alongside Studio Director Cy Wise. In an announcement post, Schwartz said he’s excited to be starting a new company but traveling and taking some time off first. I reached out to Schwartz and Wise to see if their new venture is VR-related but they both declined to say more just yet.

An immersive VR locomotion solution that ditches the omnidirectional treadmill design in favor of a swivel chair. If you’ve seen the movie ‘Ready Player One’ or have been to CES or other recent gaming/technology trade show, then odds are you’re at least somewhat familiar with the concept behind omnidirectional treadmills. The device is pretty much

VR does a few, specific things really, really well. One of those things is help players fulfill power fantasies. When I play Robo Recall, I feel like an action movie star that’s got skill of the same caliber as the likes of John Wick. When I play Archangel: Hellfire I really feel like I’m piloting an ultra-powerful mech with rockets and lasers. And now, when I play Megalith, I feel like a Goddess of Thunder.

During my hands-on demo of Megalith at E3 last week, I took control of Aurora, who is a lightning-based hero that can shoot lightning bolt, cast out giant electric orbs, summon storm clouds, and even fly up into the air to rain down enough bolts of lightning to make even Zeus proud.

Megalith, as we learned last year, is coming to PSVR soon and aims to bring a nice blend of first-person shooter gameplay with the overall flow of a MOBA. That means that while your particular hero will be controlled much like it would be in other first-person action games, you’ll have a base to defend, towers to protect, and minions at your side. All that other stuff is automated though so you can focus on the action.

Disruptive Games captured the gameplay video above, which shows an E3 attendee playing as Cipher, the fire-based hero. I fought against him partnered up with a duplicate Aurora as the enemy, and with Taurus, a melee hero, on my team. Matches in Megalith are designed to be 2v2, which sounds small, but the action was anything but slow-paced.

For my demo Taurus and I spawned back at our base and immediately set off for the middle of the map where much of the action takes place. Our side had two different entry points, both of which were flanked by two turret towers. We easily won the match and I think only one of our four towers ever even took damage.

Movement in Megalith is similar to the smooth locomotion from Skyrim on PSVR. You point in a direction using the Move controller and then hold down the trigger to move that way. Face buttons do things like rotate your orientation for turning and activate your different abilities.

When you activate an ability it doesn’t automatically get set off, but instead you then aim your right hand and pull the trigger to use it. If you don’t have an ability equipped at that time, you’ll just use your character’s default attack.

For Aurora, her default was a medium-range lightning burst. It did good damage if I could get within range, but getting too close left me vulnerable to nasty burst attacks from Cipher and the enemy Aurora. Her abilities involved a bigger, much longer range sustained lightning blast, an electric orb, and a thunder cloud.

My favorite combo was to hit them with an orb, which stunned them in place, and then follow that up with a storm cloud above their head for some hefty damage over time. My Taurus teammate could also slam the